1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus to display a digital image acquired by means of a digital still camera, for example.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, images photographed by a silver-film camera, electronic still camera (including digital still camera), etc. are viewed or enjoyed in various manners as will be described below.
An image photographed with a silver-film camera is viewed or enjoyed in various ways. Namely, the image is printed on a photographic paper to produce a picture. Usually, the picture is put in a photo mount or frame, for example, or filed in a album for storage and later viewing or enjoyment. Alternatively, a positive film produced based on the developed negative silver film is used in a slide projector to project the image onto a screen for enlarged viewing.
An image acquired with an electronic still camera (including a digital still camera) can be viewed, for example, by displaying it on a display apparatus connected to a personal computer or on a display screen or panel, if any, provided on the electronic still camera.
Once an image acquired with a silver-film camera is put in a photo mount or frame, no other image cannot be viewed in the mount or frame. For viewing another image in the photo mount, it is replaced with the existing one. Also, once such an image is filed in a photo album, the album has to be taken out from a storage place and many pages have to be turned to access a desired. For viewing 36 pictures, for example, so many album pages have to be turned. Namely, desired images cannot easily be accessed if they are filed in an album. When viewing an image projected on a screen from a slide projector using a positive film produced based on a negative silver film, it cannot be viewed clearly in a bright place, a projection screen is necessary, and a relatively large space has to be available for an enlarged image projection. The place should be provided with blackout curtains which would be required to view the image clearly in a day time, for example.
On the other hand, viewing an image photographed by an electronic still camera (including a digital still camera) needs no replacement of one image with any other desired one, no turning of album pages in viewing a plurality of pictures printed from a silver film and no slide projector and screen, but a display apparatus connected to a personal computer. In case the electronic still camera is a camera provided with a image playback display apparatus or display panel, however, images cannot be viewed unless the display apparatus is available. Recently, there are commercially available external recording media each having digitally recorded therein a photo collection of a celebrity. However, to view such digital images recorded on such an external recording medium, for example, a personal computer and a display apparatus connectable to the personal computer are required. No dedicated apparatus easy to operate for display of such images has yet been proposed.
Accordingly, the present invention has an object to provide an image display apparatus capable of displaying an image in a normal (erect) direction whether the apparatus is placed with the shorter or longer side down and without giving the apparatus any special command for the normal direction of the image.
The present invention has another object to provide an image display apparatus allowing an easy viewing of digital images even without any personal computer and other display apparatus and also an easy viewing of digital images supplied via an external recording medium having recorded therein a photo collection of a celebrity, and which can be designed to have a decorative feature like a photo mount or frame for a silver-film image.
The above object can be attained by providing an image display apparatus destined to display image data read from a recording medium, comprising:
means for generating image signal by processing image data from the recording medium in a predetermined manner;
means for displaying the image signal supplied from the image processing means; and
a controlling means for recording into the recording medium information on a direction in which the image signal is to be displayed on the image displaying means and displaying the image signal on the image displaying means in a direction corresponding to the displaying-direction information read from the recording medium.
Also the above object can be attained by providing an image display apparatus destined to display image data read from a recording medium, comprising:
means for generating image signal for display based on image information read from the recording medium;
means for displaying the to-be-displayed image signal produced by the image signal generating means; and
means for determining a direction in which the image is to be displayed on the image displaying means according to a posture in which the apparatus is placed.
These objects and other objects, features and advantages of the present intention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.